Ottawa awards first LRT contract

Ottawa's City Council Wednesday, in a unanimous 24-0 vote, awarded a C$2.1 billion initial contract to Rideau Transit Group to begin construction of the city's first light rail transit line.

Rideau Transit Group, led by ACS Infrastructure Canada Inc., was chosen over two others consortia: Ottawa Transit Partners, led by Vinci Concessions; and Rideau Transit Partners, led by Bouygues Travaux Publics S.A.

Construction on the 7.7-mile initial LRT segment is set to begin in February. As part of the process, lanes will be added on the city's Queensway to carry express buses while the existing bus-only Transitway is closed during its conversion to LRT.

Ottawa has tapped Infrastructure Ontario as the "commercial procurement lead" for the project. Infrastructure Ontario also is involved with LRT projects in Toronto and the Waterloo region, west of Toronto.